On Diwali: 47 fire incidents, over 100 burn injuries

Crackers were the main reason for majority of the fire incidents while in some cases, the diyas and candles which were left inside the factories after lakhshmi puja, were also the reason for fire.

Fire incidents

Fire was reported in four shops in Pindi street where loss of medicines was worth crores. A major fire incident was reported in OSGP tyre factory at GT road at 7 am on Wednesday morning. The fire team took over 10 hours to douse the flames. The waste tyres of the factory caught fire after a rocket fell on the old stock spreading foul smelling smoking.

Lit diyas were the cause of fire at a Gurudwara in Hargobind Nagar, the incident also burnt the Bir.

At Gujjarwal road, an electrical goods shop — Jain spare parts — caught fire after a stray cracker fell inside the premises.

RD Spinning mill on Rahon road also caught fire last night and it took more than six hours for the fire brigade team to douse the flames.

Additional district fire officer Kartar Singhsaid: "Around 60 per cent of our staff was working last night and till Wednesday evening, around 47 fire incidents were reported out of which few were major ones and rest were controlled within no time. Our teams managed things well in time. The first fire incident was reported at 10.30 pm and it continued the whole night."injuries

Meanwhile, 25 face, eyes and hand burn injuries were reported in CMCH while 13 were reported in DMCH, of which two are critical. Dr Sanjeev Uppal, treating the critical patients said: "The house of a Jammu couple caught fire after a cracker landed inside their house. The male patient received 90 per cent burns while the female got 60 per cent burns."

In GTBH, around 28 patients were discharged after administering first-aid, while four children were admitted to Deep hospital, one patient came in Civil hospital and four in Dhami eye care centre.

Most of the patients were kids who had sustained facial and eyes injuries. "The kids burst the crackers in their hands which causes accident," said Dr Baldeep Singh, director of Deep Hospital.

Cause: Crackers, diyas and rats

The fire department said that stray crackers were a major reason for fire incidents, but burning diyas — left inside factory premises — were also a major reason. The fire officials adde: "The rats normally take out the cotton from inside the diya and they jump here and there and hence cause fires." Kartar Singh said: "Not many people know about this, but it is a reality as in the midnight, the rats become active as they see plenty of things to eat and while nibbling the things, they knock over the diyas and candles. Individuals should not put too much oil in diyas which have to be kept inside the factories."

Rs 1 crore in tax from cracker sales

Despite the steep rise in the cost of crackers, with prices nearly doubling for rockets and anars, cracker stall owners saw thumping business. As per official records over Rs 1 crore in tax was collected, which indicates sale of more than 15 crores crackers in Ludhiana.

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